Protective covering



00L 30, 1956 L. A. RUNToN PROTECTIVE covERING Filed Oct. 25, 1955 UnitedStates Patent O z,76s,4z

PROTECTIVE CovERING Leslie A. Runton, Harrison, N. Y., assignor to TheRussell Manufacturing Company, Middletown, Conn., a corporation ofConnecticut Application October 25@ 19515?, Serial No. 542,757() 1Claim. (Cl. 28-78)` This invention relates to protective armor orcovering for mobile equipment and personnel and more particularly to aprotective packing which is resistant to high temperatures.

An object is to provide a packing which can be readily installed andwhich conforms to various shapes of surfaces.

Another object is to provide such a packing which is adapted to beremoved and replaced for purposes of inspection, service or repair.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent as the nature of theinvention is more fully disclosed.

A feature of the invention is the use of a shredded plastic which isresistant to high temperatures and is resistant to the impact of smallobjects such as bullets or shrapnel fragments. Teflon(polytetrafluoroethylene) a plastic sold by E. l. du Pont de Nemours isparticularly suitable. It is available in blocks or strips that can beshredded into small fragments which are suitable for a filling orpacking. Such shredded Teflon is resistant to temperatures of the orderof 600 F.

ln accordance with this invention the shredded Teflon is placed in bagsor tubes woven from crimped nylon or crimped Teflon and held in form bythreads extending between the front and back walls at spaced intervals.

The fabric bags are loosely lled with the shredded fibers and when usedas an armor, for example on a jet engine or on the skin or surface of aplane or tank, the bag is first tucked into the space to be filled andthe bag is then shaken to ll the space with the loose fibers. The wallsof the bag are thus conformed to the space and hold the fibers in place.The whole bag can be removed as a unit for servicing and can be replacedas desired.

The bag may be made in the form of a long tube which can be cut intorequired lengths and can be wrapped around an external surface to beprotected.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a perspective view partly in transverse section of a pair ofabutted armor bags embodying the invention; and

Fig 2 is a warpwise section taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawing the bag is shown as cornposed of a two-plywoven fabric of a stretchable or pliable type such as crimped nylon orTeflon The crimped yarn is extensible and flexible so that the fabric ofthe bag can accommodate itself readily to irregular surfaces or corners.The filament may for example be 2,768,420 Patented 0st. 30, 1956 crimpedin a stutter crimper of the type shown in Rainard Patent No. 2,575,839,dated November 20, 1951.

The bag is shown as woven in the form of a seamless tube with side walls10, and with a front wall 11 and a back wall 12 which are securedtogether at intervals by Warpwise threads 13. If the two Walls are wovenas a unit on a double shuttle loom the threads 13 may be woven into theWalls as the fabric is made. lf desired the threads 13 can be afllxedafter the bag has been formed.

The purpose of the threads 13 is to hold the walls of the bag in thedesired shape, as in the form of a flat tube as shown. If the bag is tobe used in an irregular space certain of the threads, indicated at 13ain Fig. l may be made longer so as to form a wide section 15 at one sideof the bag. Of course the shape may be otherwise modified as required tot the surface to be protected.

After the bag is made as above described the end is closed by stitching16 and the shredded Teflon bers 14 are inserted and shaken into placeuntil the bag is loosely filled. The open end is then closed and the bagis ready for use. lf made in the form of a long tube it may be rolledfor shipment.

To insert the armor in a confined or irregular space the proper lengthof the tube is cut off and closed to form a bag which may be held by oneend and shaken to move the fibers to the other end and leave the upperend substantially empty. This end is then pushed into the space to beprotected and the other end of the bag is lifted and shaken to ll therst end with fibers and cause them to be packed into the selected spaceof irregular conformation. To protect an outside surface the tube can bewrapped spirally around the surface or two or more tubes can be abuttedas shown in Fig. l.

The shredded plastic forms a protective coating for the armored part butis conned by the bag so that the entire packing can be removed as a unitwhen desired.

The threads 13 serve to prevent migration of the loose fibers duringcontinued use and also to prevent displacement of the fibers due to animpact. The entire length is thus available to resist the penetration ofa bullet or metal fragment.

Teflon is useful for the protection of high temperature parts such asjet engines as it withstands elevated temperatures.

Various other forms may also be used as will be apparent to a personskilled in the art.

What is claimed is:

A protective covering adapted to conform, irregular surfaces subjectedto elevated temperatures comprising a closed fabric bag composed of astretchable crimped synthetic yarn and having front and back Wallsspaced to form a closed chamber and joined at spaced points byinterlaced threads to prevent said walls from spreading, and a mass ofshredded temperature resistant polytetrafluoroethylene fibers closelylling said chamber and held against substantial displacement by saidinterleaved threads.

Zeglen May 31, 1898 Foster Aug. 19, 1950

